Solemn Faces
As we prepare to leave Bangalore in the morning to head to Delhi, our last stop on our India immersion trip, I am reflecting back on the past five days we have spent here. We had four corporate visits in Bangalore – Ashoka, a social entrepreneurship company, Narayana Hrudalaya, a public hospital, Mindtree Ltd, a global IT solutions company, and GE Technology Center. While each corporate visit was extremely insightful and inspiring – especially hearing about the social entrepreneurship initiatives that Ashoka is doing focusing on women’s health and improving the nutrition of school lunches, I found the cultural excursion visit to the KR Market/City Market to be very eye opening and one that has left me still wanting answers to lots of questions.
As we walked through the crowded market on Saturday morning around 10 o’clock, we learned from our tour guide Su that the market had been open since 4 am and that the farmers had likely been awake since 2 am to travel into the city. Each had obviously taken lots of care and time to set up his or her fruits and vegetables in an orderly way so as to make the products look appealing to the wholesalers coming to make purchases. There were deeply vibrant eggplants, bright pomengranates, and huge heads of cauliflower for sale. But as we walked around the market, one thing constantly struck me – the faces of these farmers were emotionless, which has left me wondering what are they thinking? What are they feeling? Are these farmers so tired by 10 am that they just sit emotionless, as if completely empty of feeling? What were they like at 4 am when the wholesalers showed up? Did emotion spark as negotiations flared? Or are the days so mundane that there’s no stimulation to cause expression? Or are they deep in thought imagining a better life for their children and wondering how hard they have to work to win a better life? As someone whose face so clearly depicts my emotions, I am boggled by the faces of these workers which I have captured on camera. Perhaps the answer is as simple as they are tired of people taking their picture and give no reaction. To be honest, the emotionless faces leave my heart sinking, imagining what the life they are leading must be like if their faces are so solemn. But again, am I just instilling my Western thoughts on what a good life entails and letting my imagination get carried away thinking about the daily struggles they are facing?
As I pick up on finishing this blog post in Delhi now, I continue to find myself mesmerized by the expressions, or lack thereof on the local workers. Is expressing emotion frowned upon? Or is the bottom of the pyramid population so worn out from tough working and living conditions, that there’s nothing left in them other than to stare off into open space?